In many tube and pipe clips, rigid and semi-rigid materials are combined to create a holding means for tubes and other generally cylindrical objects. Such clips are generally designed to secure the tubes so held to a stationary support through a connecting base, while others are intended to simply secure two or more tubes to each other. The clip of the present invention is of the latter variety, and so designed to secure two tubes to each other, without any additional support.
Most tube clips are also designed to secure tubes of indeterminate length. Accordingly, the inventive step of such clips often consists of apparatus designed to open up to receive the tubular member, and thereafter close around the tubular member when the clip is engaged. The clip of the present invention, on the other hand, is of a variety which may be slipped over a short tube, in order to secure it to other tubes of similar length, or longer tubes with the addition of rows of clips. As a result, the clip of the present invention does not open and close, but remains substantially in its final configuration at the time of purchase, during installation, and in use.
Finally, many tube clips are designed to secure one or many tubes, either to a separate support structure, or to each other. Such clips are often formed to allow the user to grip a number of tubes, and further allow the user to choose the number of tubes, from one to many, to be so gripped. The present invention is designed to grip only two tubes, as the use of multiple clips according to the present invention provides the capability of "ganging" such tubes and clips into an array having unusual flexibility between adjacent tubes, and among non-adjacent tubes within the array. Such arrays may be employed as display devices, carriers for small objects, storage for small objects, as a device which may assist in sorting objects having varying characteristics, or as "building blocks" for toys.
It may appreciated, in light of the foregoing discussion, that there is a need for a clip having the properties set forth herein and useful for the purposes mentioned above. The present invention is directed precisely to such useful properties and purposes.
A number of schemes have been devised to secure tubes, cables, and similar cylindrical objects to support structures and to each other, and apparatus, made of plastic or other flexible materials, have been developed accordingly. Various designs and configurations for such apparatus include:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,113 to Dvorachek, which discloses a clamp for securing a plurality of elongated articles in spaced relationship.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,716 to Sakaguchi, which discloses a synthetic resin holder, with hinge spring and base plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,156 to Guido et al., which discloses a pipe clip of resilient material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,646 to Cattani, which discloses a clamp fitting, in particular for pipes and tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,705 to Kraus, which discloses a plastic holding element intended for fastening at least one pipe to a support structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,215 to Freier, which discloses a pipe clip, with base plate, for fastening a single cylindrical object to a support.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,387 to Lewis et al., which discloses a holding element made of plastic for fastening a single cylindrical object to a support.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,539 to Tisol, which discloses a flexible tube clip assembly for mounting a plurality of tubular elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,655 to Marion, which discloses a clip assembly, with hinge and clasp, for fastening objects to a support.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,883 to Meyer, which discloses a flexible clip assembly for fastening a single cylindrical object to a panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,342 to Kraus, which discloses a holding device made of plastic for fastening a single tube-shaped body to a support.
In the above-noted inventions, and in other prior art, flexible or resilient clips are formed from plastic or resin to accomplish the purposes set forth in these corresponding patents. However, the clips disclosed in these patents are not suitable for the functions accomplished by the present invention. More particularly, but not exclusively, prior art clips do not allow a user to fasten one or more cylindrical objects together in such fashion that the user may rotate and reorient each such object, in relation to its adjacent object. Such rotation and reorientation, while relatively minor when viewed one object to the next, amounts to a large reorientation when a number of objects, fastened together by a number of clips, are employed.
The present invention is directed to such rotation and reorientation among cylindrical objects by use of a new and useful clip according to the present invention to achieve, in one preferred application, an array of cylindrical objects having unusual flexibility. Such an array using the clip of the present invention has a variety of uses not found in the prior art.